On filling in on such short notice: “Before I got
the offer, I heard that [John] Dodson was hurt and possibly out of
the fight. My manager called me and was like … ‘Would you like me
to put your name in and be proactive and see if we can get this
fight?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, of course. We might as well be proactive
and go after it.’ I guess as he was calling, Sean Shelby called my
manager and asked if I wanted the fight. It was kind of all working
out at the same time.”

On preparing for the fight: “Once I actually got
the fight, I was very excited but very nervous at the same time.
Ten days preparing for a UFC fight against Scott
Jorgensen -- it was pretty intense, and I had a lot to do in a
short period of time, but it was the opportunity I was waiting for
for a very long time, so I was more than happy to do it.”

On Jorgensen’s style: “I think he has a more
boxing-oriented attack than like a muay Thai attack or anything. He
uses his hands a lot more than kicks. The guy I just fought in RFA,
Matt
Manzanares, was a Junior Olympic boxer and, I felt, had
somewhat of a similar standup style. I just felt like Jorgensen had
more power and was obviously a much higher-caliber wrestler and
grappler in general. I kind of kept the same kind of ideas that I
wanted to use in the fight previous. I just knew it’d much harder
to get takedowns and control him there. I felt like it was good
timing for that fight.”

On whether out scrambling Jorgensen made the difference
when it came to the decision: “It was definitely a big
part of it, I think. We both come from pretty strong wrestling
backgrounds and we both scored takedowns in the fight. It was kind
of that ability to control the takedowns and then control the top
position if we got there that would be a big factor. We both were
scrambling and exchanging position, and especially in that third
round, I was able to get his back and control him a little bit
more. It wasn’t easy by any means, but I think that was a big part
of it.”

On whether being a champion in Bellator prepared him for
the UFC: “I think so. I think the fights in Bellator, with
the TV production, the whole week, the whole days leading up to the
fight are pretty similar, so I was kind of used to all that. RFA
did it very similar too. I’d say it definitely prepared me to be
there, but I don’t consider myself a Bellator guy anymore than I
would an RFA guy or an EliteXC guy or any of the other promotions
I’ve fought for.”